A hawk by any other name ...

The names are in pop culture and in history, but how do they relate to the real world?

What exactly is a Chicken Hawk? Or a Sparrow Hawk, or Pigeon Hawk? Or even a Duck Hawk, for that matter?

You don't hear the terms very often any longer, but old bird books actually list those as the commonly accepted names for some species. I have a certain affinity for old bird books and grab them whenever I see them at tag sales, flea markets or used book stores. I found one recently that had listings for Pigeon Hawk, Duck Hawk, and Sparrow Hawk.

Funny thing is, none of them are even hawks -- they are falcons.

In the book "Birds of America," published by Garden City Books in 1917 with T. Gilbert Pearson as editor-in-chief, the Duck Hawk is described as "a fierce destroyer but a splendid success as a bird." In the 'Other Names' column under Duck Hawk, the name Peregrine Falcon is listed first, along with American Peregrine, Great-footed Hawk, Wandering Falcon and Tercel.

So the Duck Hawk is the Peregrine Falcon. Or is it? The book further explains that "the Peregrine Falcon of the Old World is the noble falcon of the days when hawking was the chief of sports. Casually it is found in Greenland but its best known American representative is the Duck Hawk."

The entry goes on to explain that coloration of the throat and upper breast are the only differences between the Peregrine Falcon and Duck Hawk. It's safe to say that the Duck Hawk listed in this book is the bird we now know as Peregrine Falcon.

On to the Pigeon Hawk, which follows Duck Hawk in the book. Other names for Pigeon Hawk listed are American Merlin, Bullet Hawk and Little Blue Corporal. So the bird we know as the Merlin is the Pigeon Hawk.

Next is the Sparrow Hawk, which has other names such as American Sparrow Hawk, American Kestrel, Windhover, Rusty-crowned Kestrel, Kitty Hawk, Grasshopper Hawk and Mouse Hawk. Of course, the common name now is the American Kestrel. The kestrel is our smallest and most color falcon.

The author of the Sparrow Hawk entry in the book, R.I Brasher, explains that "Windhover is a very appropriate name, for they are much given to hovering over field and pastures ... as they scan the ground below for grasshoppers and mice.

So what about the Chicken Hawk? Remember the old Looney Tunes cartoon when the young hawk tries to bring down the comparatively giant rooster Foghorn Leghorn. The young bird brashly refered to itself as a Chicken Hawk. The hip hop/rap/rock band Cypress Hill has a song with the lyrics "I'm a Chicken Hawk hunting for a chicken."

The Chicken Hawk is apparently a moniker for several bird species. "Birds of America" does not list Chicken Hawk as the official name for any bird, but it is listed as an "other name" for Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Goshawk, and Red-tailed Hawk. One theory claims that these birds were nicknamed Chicken Hawk to justify the killing of these birds of prey by farmers.

I love looking through these old books to see how birdwatching and its terminology has changed throughout the years. It's sad when entries for birds that are no longer with us, such as Ivory-billed Woodpecker and Carolina Parakeet, pop up in these books. It does, however, serve as a stark reminder that we need to protect the birds that remain. The world would be a lot more lonely place without our Sparrow Hawks?